Phillips Design Auction Totals $4.65m

A work by François-Xavier Lalanne was the headline sale at Phillips 'Design' auction on April 30 in London.

• The sale totaled $4.65m (GBP3.44m), exceeding the pre-sale high estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 117 works sold totaling $4.65m.
• Estimates totaled: $2.2m (low) and $3.18m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 89% of the original 131 lots announced.

The star lot was: François-Xavier Lalanne, 'Mouton de Pierre' (1979) (1989), which sold for $488,100, 100% above its $243,200 low estimate. It has been traded 4 times in the past.

The outperformer sold for 1620% above its low estimate. Bruno Paul, Rare dressing table (1928), sold for $27,900 ($1,622 low estimate). It has been traded once in the past.

• 88 works, or 75%, sold above their high estimate.
• 25 works, or 21%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 4 works, or 3%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

1 work was backed by a guarantee: Ettore Sottsass, Unique 'Toeletta Nanda', from the Ettore Sottsass, Jr. and Fernanda Pivano residence, Milan (1958). It sold for $383,500, 254% above its $108,100 low estimate. It has been traded twice in the past.

Works that did not sell

15 works were bought-in, including: Jeroen Verhoeven, 'Lectori Salutem' desk (2010), estimated at $67,600 (low) to $94,600 (high). It has not been traded before.

Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn

Terms and definitions

All results include the fees and premiums added to the price of a work of art when the auctioneer's hammer falls. Estimates, sale prices and totals are converted into US dollars. Sale prices are compared to the auction house’s low estimate, which do not include premiums.

Guarantees: Sometimes an auction house guarantees to pay a seller for a work, regardless of whether the bidding reaches the reserve price, a figure that is typically confidential.

Bought-in: If there are no bids for a work, or if bidding falls short of the reserve price, the lot is unsold or “bought-in”.

Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.

Premiums: Typically a sliding-scale of charges paid in addition to the hammer price by the buyer, plus any other fees.